Committee considers changing ‘may’ to ‘shall’ for solicitor roles, seeks clearer scope for constituent engagement

North Smithfield — The Charter Review Committee discussed language changes to solicitor provisions in the town charter, including whether the town solicitor and the school department solicitor should be described with permissive language ("may be appointed") or mandatory language ("shall be appointed"). The committee also considered adding a clarification that the solicitor's duties do not include representing private residents as individual clients.

One committee member said the charter currently reads that "there may be a town solicitor who may be appointed by majority" and proposed changing "may" to "shall" in some sections to make the language uniform. Members noted past discussion had highlighted a desire for consistent verbiage across charter sections.

A committee member described a common source of confusion among constituents: "he made it clear that it's not his role to engage with constituents, to answer constituents' questions, to represent constituents." Members said adding explicit language about how residents should engage with the solicitor — through the town council, town administrator or appointed officials — could reduce misperceptions, tension and repeated inquiries.

The group also discussed whether separate solicitor posts (town and school) could be consolidated or otherwise streamlined; members said the offices currently contain repetitive language but also recognized legal and functional differences that may require separate provisions. The committee agreed to contact chairs of affected boards and the respective solicitors for input before proposing charter language changes.